Noodle
Noodle is the official lead guitarist of Gorillaz. Since the events of the El Mañana Incident, she had disappeared for approximately four years. During her absence, her position as the band's guitarist was substituted by Cyborg Noodle, made by Murdoc from Noodle's DNA to replace her in the Gorillaz. Background Noodle was born in Osaka, Japan on October 31, 1990. Noodle spent a portion of her childhood in Japan as a subject of a classified Japanese super soldier project under the management of the Japanese scientist, Mr. Kyuzo. Noodle, along with 22 other children, were trained with the sole purpose of fighting as soldiers of the Japanese military and government. After the children were deemed too dangerous and unstable for combat, the project was scrapped. Mr. Kyuzo was then ordered to dispose of all possible traces of the failed experiment, as well as its participants. After killing the other 22 children, Kyuzo was reluctant in killing Noodle. Rather than killing her, Kyuzo placed her in a state of amnesia through use of verbal commands. The phrase used to place Noodle in her state of amnesia was known as Ocean Bacon. After temporarily clearing her memory of the project, Kyuzo smuggled Noodle to the United Kingdom in a FedEx crate and falsely reported her death (along with the other 22 children) to his superiors. Noodle arrived at the doorstep of Kong Studios in 1998. Once the crate was taken inside, Noodle sprung out of the box and performed a guitar solo (which 2-D described as "200 demons screaming in Arabic. Brilliant!"). She ended her solo with a 20 foot high karate kick before bowing and saying the word "Noodle". This resulted with her earning the name "Noodle" (her only currently known name), and replacing Paula Cracker as the band's lead guitarist. Gorillaz Phase 1: 2000-2001 Noodle was about ten in this phase. She mainly played guitar, but also provided vocals for the Gorillaz, most notably the track "19-2000". In numerous videos, idents and music videos alike, it became obvious that Noodle was talented at much more than just music. She is also proficient at martial arts. During this phase, she couldn't speak English, except for a few phrases like "yeah" and "duh". Post-Phase 1 to Pre-Phase 2: 2002-2004 After the band's abrupt breakup, Noodle traveled back to Japan by herself to learn about her forgotten past. During her stay, she visited a sushi bar in Osaka where she heard a waiter tell the bar's chef that he needed an order of "Ocean Bacon". Upon hearing the phrase, Noodle simultaneously regained all memories of her previously concealed past (which included her ability to speak fluent English as well as every other known foreign language). After her sudden revelation, she returned to Kong Studios, which had fell into a state of disrepair during the bands' absence. She also discovered that the studio had become infested with hordes of undead zombies. Using Kong's security surveillance room as a "safe house", Noodle slowly cleansed the complex of its unwanted inhabitants. During her stay at Kong Studios, Noodle laid out the concept plans for the 2005 album, Demon Days. After completely ridding the building of the zombies, Noodle embarked on a mission to reunite with her band mates. Gorillaz Phase 2: 2004-2008 This phase featured the album Demon Days, written by Noodle herself (now fifteen), which contained the song "DARE", the first song featuring Noodle doing almost everything, including instrumentals and singing. At the end of this phase, Noodle was considering leaving the band for a while, so she planned to leave after filming the final music video, "El Mañana". During the filming of the video, Noodle parachuted off the floating island from the "Feel Good Inc." video after it was gunned down by two armoured helicopters. When filming was complete, Noodle had disappeared; causing panic across the set and everyone on it, except for Murdoc. Her used parachute was found amongst the wreckage of the crash site. This caused many to believe for a while that Noodle had been killed off. These rumors of Noodle's supposed death were finally laid to rest, as Murdoc assured everyone that she survived, and they had staged the crash to get rid of Jimmy Manson, who had hid away in the windmill, thinking he was part of a plot to get rid of Noodle and take her place with the parachute. Murdoc claimed, in the Gorillaz book ''Rise of the Ogre'', that Noodle was "off in the Maldives, just chilling out". However, in the epilogue of the book, a transcript of a radio broadcast from Noodle is printed out. Another similar radio broadcast could be heard in the basement of Kong Studios on the official Gorillaz website. Murdoc later "confessed" that Noodle was stuck in hell, but he had allegedly saved her. He was drunk at the time, so it is unknown if what he said was true or not. Gorillaz Phase 3: 2010-2012 Four years after her disappearance, Noodle embarked on her journey to reunite with her former band mates. She was formally seen last in the On Melancholy Hill video, sporting a cat mask on board a cruise liner known as the M. Harriet. During the voyage, a crew member notified her that the ship was being attacked by pirates and that he was sent to escort her to the ship's lifeboats. Without speaking, Noodle opened her luggage and armed herself with a Thompson submachine gun. It is assumed that she is seeking revenge for being marked dead by Murdoc. After shooting down one of the two pirate fighter planes, Noodle was forced to abandon the M. Harriet which was sunk by a dive bomb torpedo released by the second plane. She is later seen in a life raft being lifted out of the water atop Russel Hobbs' head, who is currently in a noticeably larger physical state than usual. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thjgHGS38kIn the canceled Rhinestone Eyes video, she and Russel make it to Plastic Beach. Later on, after the Black Clouds destroy Plastic Beach, Cyborg Noodle malfunctions and attempts to kill Murdoc, but is destroyed by Noodle. She and Russel rescued 2-D after he got swallowed by the whale and the three of them began to track Murdoc after he faked getting killed by the Black Clouds and escaped to Hawaii where he began his radio shows celebrating Gorillaz' Ten Year anniversary. It turns out "Hawaii" was just a ransacked house in London, and the room he was in had a Hawaii theme to it complete with sound effects. It is unknown what happened to Murdoc when they found him. Noodle later makes a brief appearance in the music video, DoYaThing, as 2-D looks into her room. Most of her facial injuries seemed to have healed since the events of Plastic Beach. However, the house they are staying in (212 Wobble Street) is suffering foreclosure; what happens next is uncertain. Gorillaz Phase 4: 2016- Days after the attack on Plastic Beach, Noodle awoke in a strange Japanese fishing village. She was nursed back to health by an old pearl diver named Chiyoko, so Noodle took a job as her apprentice to repay her kindness. One day, deep beneath the waves, she opened a unnaturally big pearl shell, and accidentally released an ancient demon from hell. Noodle learned this was Mazuu, a shape-shifting devil that could take human form. The only way to destroy it was to remove its head from its body. And so, for years, Noodle pursued Mazuu across Japan. Finally, she had tracked it down to Tokyo, where it had risen to the top of the criminal underworld. Disguised as a geisha, she infiltrated their headquarters, The Demon's Lounge. While Mazuu was distracted, she chopped off its head. Its earthly existence was over. Escaping Mazuu's sumo bodyguards, she packed herself into a box with dried fish, bottled water, and a copy of Moby Dick. Her package was addressed: West London, England - c/o Murdoc Niccals '' Trivia * In Phase 2, Noodle was voiced by Miho Hatori, the lead singer of the Shibuya-kei band, Cibo Matto. * Phase 1 Noodle's radio helmet was inspired by the one worn by the character, Gum, from the 2000 Dreamcast video game, ''Jet Set Radio. * According to the Gorillaz MTV Cribs episode, she likes Johnny Thunders and Richie Sambora. * In 2016, she became the global ambassador for Jaguar Racing. Gallery References Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Phase 1 Characters Category:Phase 2 Characters Category:Demon Days Characters Category:Plastic Beach Characters Category:Gorillaz Member Category:Phase 4 Characters Category:Phase 1 Category:Phase 2 Category:Phase 3 Category:Phase 4 Category:Phase 3 Characters Category:Gorillaz